Weighted Maximum Likelihood for Controller Tuning

Recently, Model Predictive Contouring Control (MPCC) has arisen as the state-of-the-art approach for model-based agile flight. MPCC benefits from great flexibility in trading-off between progress maximization and path following at runtime without relying on globally optimized trajectories. However, finding the optimal set of tuning parameters for MPCC is challenging because (i) the full quadrotor dynamics are non-linear, (ii) the cost function is highly non-convex, and (iii) of the high dimensionality of the hyperparameter space. This paper leverages a probabilistic Policy Search method—Weighted Maximum Likelihood (WML)—to automatically learn the optimal objective for MPCC. WML is sample-efficient due to its closed-form solution for updating the learning parameters. Additionally, the data efficiency provided by the use of a model-based approach allows us to directly train in a high-fidelity simulator, which in turn makes our approach able to transfer zero-shot to the real world. We validate our approach in the real world, where we show that our method outperforms both the previous manually tuned controller and the state-of-the-art auto-tuning baseline reaching speeds of 75 km/h

The Effect of Denture Cleansing Solutions on the Retention of Precision Attachments: An In Vitro Study.

This study aimed to investigate the effect of different cleansing solutions on the retention of precision attachments. A precision attachment patrix was embedded into acrylic resin and the matrix was placed onto the patrix. The red (high retention, 8 N), yellow (regular retention, 6 N), and green (reduced retention, 4 N) plastic matrixes of the attachments (n = 32) were soaked in three different denture cleansing solutions (sodium laureth sulfate, sodium bicarbonate-sodium perborate, sodium bicarbonate) for a duration simulating 6 months of clinical use. The control group was soaked in tap water. A universal testing machine was used to measure the retention values of attachments after they were soaked in denture cleansers. The retention values were compared among the groups with repeated-measures analysis of variance followed by the Tukey HSD test (p = 0.05). Yellow attachments were affected by sodium laureth sulfate, sodium bicarbonate-sodium perborate, and water (p = 0.012). Green attachments' retention increased after immersion in sodium laureth sulfate (p = 0.04) and water (p = 0.02). Red attachments' retention increased after immersion in sodium laureth sulfate or sodium bicarbonate-sodium perborate (p = 0.045). Water did not affect the retention of red attachments. Because sodium bicarbonate tablets did not affect the retention of attachments, clinicians may recommend their use as a cleanser. Clinicians also may inform patients using fixed and removable partial prostheses with precision attachments of a possible increase in retention after the use of sodium laureth sulfate or when using sodium bicarbonate-sodium perborate with yellow and red attachments

Helical tomotherapy experience in breast cancer adjuvant radiotherapy and acute toxicity results

Background: This study aimed to evaluate acute toxicity and oncological outcomes of breast cancer patients who underwent adjuvant radiotherapy (RT) with tomotherapy. Materials and methods: The results of 114 patients who underwent adjuvant RT with tomotherapy device between 17.08.10–12.06.2021 in XXX Hospital were evaluated retrospectively. The primary endpoint of the study was acute adverse events, and the secondary endpoints were overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS). Results: The results of 103 patients who met the inclusion criteria were analyzed.  The median follow-up was 21 (range 1–125.8) months. Grade +3 esophagitis was not observed in any patient; no esophagitis was observed in 60 (58.3%) patients. Grade 3 dermatitis was observed in 3 (2.9%) patients. In addition, dermatitis was not observed in 47 (45.6%) patients. The relationship between chest wall volume and esophagitis development was statistically significant (p = 0.006; Z score: –2769). The median OS was 24.1 (range 1–128.5) and median disease-free survival was 21.1 (range 1–125.8) months. Five patients (4.9%) died and 9 patients (8.7%) relapsed. Local recurrence was observed in only 1 (1%) patient. There was a statistically significant correlation between OS and contralateral lung V20 dose [p < 0.001; Spearman Correlation Coefficient (SCC) –406) and heart mean dose (p < 0.001; SCC –370)]. There was a statically significant correlation between DFS and cN (p < 0.001); pN (p < 0.001); heart mean dose (p < 0.001; SCC –351); contralateral lung V5 dose (p = 0.041; SCC –213); contralateral lung V20 dose (p < 0.001; SCC –434). Conclusion: Acute toxicity results show improvement in breast cancer adjuvant radiotherapy with helical tomotherapy

The Effect of Insulin Like Growth Factor-1 on Recovery of Facial Nerve Crush Injury

Objectives The aim of this study is to investigate the efficacy of locally applied insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) on the recovery of facial nerve functions after crush injury in a rabbit model. Methods The rabbits were randomly assigned into three groups. Group 1 consisted of the rabbits with crush injury alone; group 2, the animals applied saline solution onto the crushed facial nerve and group 3, IGF-1 implemented to the nerve in the same manner. Facial nerve injury was first electrophysiologically studied on 10th and 42nd days of the procedure. The damage to the facial nerves was then investigated histopathologically, after sacrification of the animals. Results In the electrophysiological study, compound muscle action potential amplitudes of the crushed nerves in the second group were decreased. In pathological specimens of the first and second groups, the orders of axons were distorted; demyelination and proliferation of Schwann cells were observed. However, in IGF-1 treated group axonal order and myelin were preserved, and Schwann cell proliferation was close to normal (P<0.05). Conclusion Local application of IGF-1 in a slow releasing gel was found efficacious in the recovery of the facial nerve crush injury in rabbits. IGF-1 was considered worthy of being tried in clinical studies in facial nerve injury cases

Effects of Natural Landscape Features on the Rural Settlements: The Case Study of Bartin

Natural features of a land play an important role on lands development and organization. Unconscious and unplanned development of settlements which are arisen without taking into consideration of the natural features of the land harms the ecologic balance by hindering sustainability of natural resources. According to this, inadequate living conditions for human comfort have been arisen.In this study, factors that are related to natural landscape have been analyzed based on the interaction between 83 rural settlement areas in the city of Bartin and 14 in the district of Arit. For this aim, natural structure features of study area have been mapped using the GIS (Geographic Information Systems) tool, Arc View 3.2 software and acquired data has been compared with rural settlement areas. To sum up, the importance of natural landscape features for the needs of settlements with the balance of their environs has been resulted

Spatial Hearing Questionnaire : Psychometric Properties of Turkish Version and Correlations with Hearing Skills

Objective: Self-report questionnaire is informative to assess general hearing disability. The aims of this study were to investigate the reliability of Turkish version of spatial hearing questionnaire (SHQ) and to analyze the validity of the SHQ by the correlation with speech, spatial, and qualities of hearing questionnaire (SSQ) and Turkish matrix sentence test (TMST). Methods: The first part of the study was the psychometric properties of the SHQ with 192 participants (137 with normal hearing, 55 with hearing loss). In the second and main part of the study, we applied two questionnaires (SHQ and SSQ) and TMST to people other than those included in the first part of the study (88 participants with bilateral sensorineural hearing loss). We compared the results of these two questionnaires and the TMST with the speech discrimination (SD) scores. Results: Turkish spatial hearing questionnaire’s internal consistency was 0.94 and 0.97 for individuals with normal hearing and for individuals with hearing loss, respectively. Moderate, positive, statistically significant correlation was observed between the SHQ and SSQ (r = 0:606, p = 0:001 in individuals with hearing loss who do not wear any hearing aid, and r = 0:627, p = 0:001 in hearing aid users), and SHQ and SD (r = 0:561, p = 0:032 in hearing aid users). According to TMST, moderate, positive, statistically significant correlation was found between SSQ and adaptive TMST in individuals with hearing loss who do not wear any hearing aid (r = 0:330, p = 0:033 for S0N90 and r = 0:364, p = 0:018 for S0N270). Conclusions: Turkish SHQ is a valid and reliable questionnaire for assessing hearing functions. SHQ, SSQ, and TMST are clinically beneficial measuring tools in planning the process of hearing rehabilitation and follow-up

A multi-objective route planning model based on genetic algorithm for cuboid surfaces

During a natural disaster, risk management for the evacuation of people in high-rise buildings is very important for saving lives. In the case of fire, all parameters such as detection, lighting, warning systems, etc. for safety must be used interactively. Determination of evacuation conditions and different ways out are important parameters during the fire. In this study, a system is proposed for evacuating people from building with the shortest/safest route, taking into account certain factors to evaluate the current situation of the fire. Travelling Salesman Problem (TSP) may be adapted to this real-life problem to protect people in the shortest time finding optimum route. In this study, the system based on Genetic Algorithm is performed using the online information about smoke, heat and safety level, the location of fire and the potential congestion of people in order to evacuate people from the building with safety route. The system contains two- and three-dimensional surface applications to ensure evacuation with optimum distance inside/outside of the building. Results are evaluated considering the evacuation distance. Compared to other methods in the literature, the solution to this problem is improved by adding the evacuation process for the elevator and inside of the building

Thermodynamic analysis of a diesel engine fueled with diesel and sesame oil biodiesel

European Biotechnology Conference -- MAY 05-07, 2016 -- LATVIAWOS: 000380240300142